David discussed key scenes in the book/movie, his collaboration with Director Joe Johnston and Producer Douglas Gresham, elements of The Silver Chair that may be expanded for the movie, and a lot more. He also said he hopes to be involved with future Chronicles of Narnia movies.

I loved this! Thanks for this great interview. It definitely makes my excitement for the film increase. SC is my favorite book … And the last film adaptation was in most ways a big disappointment. Sounds like I have reason for lots of optimism about the adaptation of The Silver Chair.

I’m still pretty apprehensive about how the movie will turn out. He seems alright and everything, but the fact he "read the books and liked them" made me sad. I want someone that read the books until the pages were worn.

And I have to keep coming back to it – the bullying. The story isn’t about that, it is about consequences. The bullying is just a tool in the story to show how much Jill has grown by the end.

I may sound nuts for a 40 year old but these stories are so very important to me, to who I am at my very core, and to my art… I can’t be the only one that feels this strongly about them.

Take a look at the book he’s holding in the picture. Pages look pretty worn to me. 😉

I too was uneasy about the idea of bullying being emphasized, so this interview made me feel a lot better. The themes he talked about initially had nothing to do with bullying. It’s only when I specifically asked him about it that he bothered talk about bullying at all. And all he said is that we will know specifically what Jill is being bullied about in the movie. This strikes me as very similar to how they elaborated on the World War II context in the LWW movie. It’s just part of adapting the book into a three-dimensional flesh-and-blood world.

Obviously we know very little at this stage and my concerns aren’t 100% gone. But, this interview was encouraging.

You are most definitely not the only one who feels that strongly about the books! I’m 30 and the books literally changed my life, and I continue to find new meaning ever time I go back. I’m really glad you are here! The filmmakers need to understand that there are a lot of people who don’t just want to be entertained…. the book means more to us than that. Please continue to speak out.

Yes, I’m sure that the book David Magee was holding was dog-eared. Whilst I went through the Silver Chair Reading Group Chapter by Chapter, I was carrying around a copy of that book to read at odd moments, at the Doctor, on the bus, on a train, leaving it lying around the house etc. I’d imagine that whilst he was writing a script of a film he would be doing the same sort of thing, referring back to the book again and again. It is easy to get tripped up if a question arises that the reader had not noticed at last time of reading, no matter how well one thinks they know how the book goes.

Re: "read them and liked them"… that would probably describe my initial reaction to the books when I read MN and LWW at around age eleven. I then finally read all of them in my later teens, adored them, and every year since I come to love the stories even more deeply. I’m a massive fan now. So I’m not worried if Magee wasn’t a super-fan from the get-go. 🙂

I saw Finding Neverland last year and I thought it was a really great film. I’m really glad that Puddlegulm’s speech is going to b in the movie. I’m just hoping that Aslan’s speech he gives to Jill will be in there because that’s my favorite scene in the book.

Just finished my second listen, and I am so excited! Great interview, Glumpuddle, and thanks to all who had a hand in setting this up. I was beginning to feel depressed by the silence, and this episode and the the podcasts in general always make me feel better. Mr. Magee seems to have a good grasp of the story, but still able to admit what changes need to be made. I began to understand the silence a little more as he talked about collaboration. It made me realize that as more people are brought on board they will have their own creative input, and the pause can in part be explained by them all working to get on the same page.

I’ve just listened to it for the first time, and yes, I’m thrilled, too. It is great that Glumpuddle was able to interview David Magee for us. Has anyone seen "The life of Pi"? It was a really good film and very thought-provoking. I particularly loved the ending of that film, and now as a consequence of this interview, I feel reassured that I may feel the same about Silver Chair.

This interview made me happy. I have a good feeling about this one, guys.

Also, Glumpuddle, notice how he said "optimism from the most pessimistic of characters." Not sure if that goes along with what are always saying about Puddleglum or if it is the opposite. I quite liked it.

My concern with that comment was that Puddleglum isn’t actually pessimistic at all. He’s quite the opposite. He always puts what he considers to be a positive spin on it. The humor is that to others it doesn’t actually sound optimistic. I just hope they don’t make him into Eeyore.

Good news if not great news. It would seem David Magee has a complete grasp of the novel and the messages it contains. Sounds like it is going to be a very intelligent script. I do not have the same fears for this movie that I had for TVOTDT which was a massive opportunity lost to produce a powerful, thought provoking yet entertaining film.

Excellent interview. I am a little more at ease about the film. I am still uncomfortable about Mr. Magee wanting to name TLOTGK, a very bad idea. I am glad that he wants to stay close to the book. The studio has a final say about this. He did not say anything about a battle. I am still guarded about the film. Great job, Brian.

A few months ago someone asked Magee on Twitter about the lotgk having a name and he said "We have not given her a name as of yet and might not use any name in the dialogue " So it seems like there’s a good chance she won’t have one after all.

I went back and watched the creative spark video from 2015, and someone in the comments pointed out that you can see "The Silver Chair" sitting on his table at 2:26. I looks like the same copy he has in the above picture. Just a fun little nod to Narnia.

Thank you so much to Mr. Magee for taking the time to do this and for giving such thoughtful answers. I really appreciate his insights. Go show him some love on Twitter!
Also, awesome job Brian! It was a great interview. I’m definitely more at ease about the bullying thing now. And really, everything he said was very encouraging.

Thanks to David Magee for doing the interview! I appreciate how much the production team has been invested this time around in reaching out to the fan base. I am looking forward to this movie even more after listening to the interview!

I am so hyped for this movie right now! From what Magee said it sounds like they are on the right track. I really appreciated what he had to say about adaptation. It helped me understand what goes on in movie makers’ heads. Good job everyone!

Liked the interview – hopefully he sticks a bit closer than previous films, especially the last one which was sadly butchered almost beyond recognition. Certainly willing to wait and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Stoked I guessed the trivia question correctly, although it was nice to hear Magee thinking through it and doing a good job eliminating obvious wrong choices – it tells me he has at least a working knowledge of the books, which certainly can’t hurt.

-Jill had a fear of dark, closed spaces, right? I guess that fear should be a bit explored in the movie because thats one of her fears.
-Half of the movie is in the sunlight land ( earth ) while the rest is in the underground. So it should keep an environment of hopelessness and anxiety
The appearance of the BBC version of Jill was exactly what i imagined as i read in the book. I hope they keep it that way

Anyways, I hope this movie will capture our imaginations more than the other 3. Good luck and God bless you dear producers and directors of the Silver chair